Owning a home with a swimming pool is sure to make you popular come summer, but with the prestige comes a little maintenance. The average homeowner is capable of performing some pool maintenance projects on his or her own; other projects, however, are best left to a professional. The below steps are what a swimming pool maintenance contractor would do.If you have a pool, pool maintenance is an absolute requirement. Neglected pools are quick to become what’s known as “frog ponds” — pools fraught with algae buildup, mosquito nests, and other health and aesthetic issues. Fortunately, proper pool maintenance is relatively easy when you keep a regular schedule.If you can't maintain your pool, hire a pool maintenance service. Pool services will handle everything from regular treatments to closing and opening your pool for the seasons. Most pool maintenance services cost about $75 to $100 per hour. Some services may cost extra.The majority of pool maintenance projects can be completed DIY.

All it takes is the right materials and the ability to follow simple written directions.Maintaining your pool yourself will take less than two hours if so long as you do it regularly. Routine maintenance not only keeps your pool clean for use, but it also allows you to spot problems early on — before they become big, costly repairs. Spending a few dollars in treatment chemicals, for example, will prevent you from having to a hire a professional to clean a “frog pond” pool to the tune of $55 to $124 an hour.Contact a Professional Pool ServiceNo matter how well you maintain your pool, it’s going to need repairs from time to time. When this happens, it’s best to call a professional. Leaving pool repairs up to professionals helps keep simple repairs from snowballing into major catastrophes.The pool component most commonly in need of repair is the pump motor. Apart from the cover, the pump affects every aspect of your pool. It is the system with the most moving parts and is thus the most prone to failure.

When the pump motor fails, water can’t circulate, heat or filter. Check your pump motor regularly and address problems as early as possible. The cost to repair a pump depends on what has failed. Replacing the pump motor altogether can run from $185 for a .75hp motor to $350 for a 2.5hp motor.If you maintain your filter, you probably won’t have to worry much about replacing the cartridges. But if your filter requires increasingly frequent cleaning, it’s probably trapping oils that will be difficult to remove. A properly sized cartridge should go three to five weeks before needing a cleaning. A new cartridge costs between $13 and $75, depending on its size.Sand filters are equipped with a pressure gauge. If the pressure in your pool gets too high, your filter isn’t working properly. And if the pressure is too great, it can cause a catastrophic failure and can cause the tank to rupture. If the pressure is fine but your pool requires increasingly frequent cleaning, you may need to replace the sand in the filter.

New sand particles are particularly rough, which helps them trap particles. Over time, the water can wear them smooth and reduce their efficiency. Sand costs about $12 a bag. Replacing a sand filter system costs from $150 to over $500.A diatomaceous earth (DE) filter may fail similarly to a sand filter. carpet cleaning equipment dallas txFurther, failing DE filters can pump DE powder back into your pool. carpet cleaner brisbane northsideIn this case, a professional can tell you whether you need to replace an o-ring or address a failing valve. carpet steam cleaning melbourne reviewsStainless steel tanks can also spring pinhole leaks over time. vacuum cleaner sale philippines

When this happens, the tank should be replaced (any patches will be temporary). Replacing a DE filter system costs around $600 to $700.Determining whether you have a leak is relatively easy when compared to actually fixing a leak. carpet cleaner dog smellA pool repair professional can help you determine whether the leak starts at the filter or in the pool itself. best garment steamerYou can patch a vinyl liner for as little as $20.00 with a DIY patch kit, or you can hire a professional to do the job for around $200. A fiberglass liner should be repaired by a professional. This typically costs around $300. Concrete or gunite pools usually need to be drained and sanded to be properly repaired. This can cost from $800 to $1,550.As water courses through the heating tubes and back out into your pool, minerals build up in tubes and create blockages.

Also, insects crawl in and around the system and can affect the functions of the various smaller systems of your heater. The average cost to repair a pool heater is around $394. However, left unattended, a pool heater repair can easily climb to $1,200. We do not recommend that you attempt to repair a pool heater on your own.If you need professional help, contact a swimming pool pro.Find a Local Pool Maintenance ServiceMany people welcome a swimming pool despite the associated routine maintenance costs. With regular cleaning and maintenance, a pool is a great recreation feature that will provide years of enjoyment.Refer a Pro who does this service and receive an Amazon Gift Card!Last updated: 29 August 2014 Pool maintenance can be a drag, but there's no point having a great pool out the back if it's full of sludge. Cleaning and maintenance are crucial to keeping the water safe for you and your family, and to make sure you actually get to use it! Looking for our unbiased, expert comparisons?

Try our pool fence reviews. From collecting leaves and debris to keeping the chlorine levels stable, there's a huge range of tricks, tools and products to keep your pool in tip top shape. All pools require cleaning to remove the leaves, dirt and other grotty things that they collect. The kind of cleaner you need will depend on: The cheapest option is to do it yourself by 'hand vacuuming'. The 'vacuum' is attached to your skimmer box to create suction and then you manually push the vacuum around the surfaces of your pool with a pole. Typically, this will take between an hour and an hour and a half, and you'll need to do it once a week. If you prefer to leave the gunk-scooping to someone else, there are plenty of pool-cleaning services around. They'll also check everything's operating correctly and do required maintenance. A regular visit may cost around $55 or more. One-off call-outs will be more expensive. A Kreepy Krauly is a brand of suction pool cleaner, but these days the name 'creepy crawly' is often used to describe products in this segment of the market.

They're the cheapest and one of the more popular automatic cleaners. A more expensive type is the pressure cleaner, and more expensive again are the robot cleaners. Find out more about these in our pool cleaner buying guide. Without regular sanitisation, all pools develop bacteria – which can pose serious health risks. Water top-ups, leaves, grass, dust, and even people all cause bacteria to grow; these factors, along with the size of your pool, will determine the level of sanitisation you need. Most pool owners use chlorine. There are other options to keep pool water clean and in balance – such as using ozone gas, UV sterilisation, bromine or ionization – but these methods make up a very small part of the Australian market. Health departments around Australia generally recommend all domestic pool owners have a chlorine residual in their pool. There are three main ways domestic users can keep their pool chlorinated: As well as sanitisation, you also need to chemically balance your pool water.

The chemical balance of your pool is made up of: You should monitor your chlorine and pH levels at least once a week, or every day if your pool is in high use. Total alkalinity and calcium hardness levels can be monitored less frequently. Maintaining the pH level of your pool is crucial to ensuring it's safe to use. Incorrect pH levels can cause itchy skin and red eyes, and can also reduce the effectiveness of chlorine. pH ranges from 0 to 14, with 7.0 being neutral, anything above 7.0 alkaline, and anything below 7.0 acidic. The Australian Standard for pool water is 7.0 to 7.8, with 7.4 being ideal. Rain, water top-ups, people swimming and chlorine will all also alter your pool's pH. You can raise pH levels by adding soda ash (which is alkaline) or lower them by adding pool acid. Low levels of total alkalinity will cause erosion to pool surfaces and corrosion of equipment. It can also cause pH levels to become very unstable. The Australian Standard recommends that your TA level should be 60 to 200 parts per million.

You can raise the TA level by adding 'buffer' – sodium bicarbonate – or lower it by adding pool acid. Bear in mind, adding acid will also affect your pH levels. Low levels of dissolved calcium in pool water can corrode pool equipment, and high levels can create scale. Calcium hardness levels can't be monitored using most domestic pool water-testing kits. Instead you need to take a sample of your pool water to your local pool shop for testing. In areas where calcium levels aren't high, you shouldn't need to do this test more than once a year – unless you use calcium hypochlorite to sanitise your pool. There's a wide range of kits on the market you can use to test your pool water. A basic 'four-in-one' test is a good starting point. This kit tests chlorine levels, total alkalinity and pH, as well as the level of acid needed to rebalance the pH. Alternatively, you can now buy electronic testers, which will analyse a disposable strip that you dip in your pool. These strip readers tend to cost more.

The most labour-intensive way of keeping your pool sanitised is to manually add chlorine. This involves testing your pool's water to figure out how much chlorine to use, and will need to be done every second day for the average backyard pool. This might be the best option if you're renting a property with a pool and aren't looking for a long-term solution. Saltwater pools are popular in Australian backyards – but they don't do away with the need for chlorine. Saltwater pools use salt chlorinators to convert common salt crystals into chlorine gas which is soluble in water. Liquid chemical feeders are fitted to your pool's filtration system and automatically add liquid chlorine, and in some cases acid, to the water. In cooler climates, heating your pool can give you the opportunity to swim all year round. The best heating choice for you will depend on where you live, your budget, and how you use your pool. An ideal water temperature is said to be around 25°C. No matter how you heat your pool, a solar/thermal blanket is an excellent way to reduce heat loss overnight.